Highland Park's new hoops coach using summer to get acquainted

New Highland Park boys basketball coach Jason Jones has used his summer to get familiar with his new city, school and team.

Jones was named in early May to take over for local coaching legend Ken Darting, who stepped down at Highland Park after 13 seasons. Jones got in town in early June and has been putting the Scots through summer workouts since his arrival.

"We've been in (the gym) since June 5th or 6th when I got to town and we have been trying to get acquainted with each other on and off the court and just working on getting our skills better and give them a feel for what we're going to expect of them offensively and defensively,'' said Jones, who coached last season in Locust Grove, Ga.''

Jones, 36, said he's excited about the opportunity he's been given at Highland Park, which won four state championships under Darting. Highland Park finished second at state the past two years.

"It's a challenge, but it's been fun so far,'' he said. "The kids have been pretty responsive I think.

"What we're trying to sell the kids on right now is that we're not going to step out there in December and everybody's going to roll over and die because of what happened in the past. We've got to show up and play and get better and work hard every night.''

Highland Park is Jones' seventh stop as a head coach and the former Sterling College point guard said a key is to be able to gain a team's respect as soon as possible.

"I've taken over a lot of different programs and for me it doesn't matter if you're taking over for somebody like coach Darting, who had phenomenal success, or if you're taking over for somebody who had no success,'' Jones said.

"The bottom line is that the kids are familiar with somebody else when you come in the door so there's always a little bit of, "OK, why are we doing it that way?' But I welcome that. We want kids to know why we're doing what we're doing and we're going to explain the reasoning behind it.''

Jones is one of a group of 12 new head coaches slated to take over city programs in the upcoming school year, with Washburn Rural the lone city school that will return its entire roster of head coaches.

Following is a school-by-school look at new city coaches for '14-'15:

HAYDEN -- Tony Estes and Jill Klemz will coach the Wildcat cross country program this fall. A head coach has not been designated. Estes and Klemz take over for Shawn Finley.

HIGHLAND PARK -- Sasha (Spann) Wallace, a former Highland Park multi-sport standout, will take over the Scot volleyball program. Wallace replaces Jackie Cummings, who moved over to Topeka West.

SEAMAN -- Luke Wiens is the Vikings' new boys cross country coach, replacing longtime head coach Bob Camien, who retired.

SHAWNEE HEIGHTS -- Shawnee Heights will have three new head coaches, including new coaches in both T-Bird soccer programs. Former Topeka High head coach and T-Bird assistant Stephen Loy is the new boys coach, taking over for longtime coach Mike Balint. Catherine Swift is Heights' new girls coach, being promoted from assistant coach to take over for Marc Serrano.

TOPEKA HIGH -- Hannah Blackburn is Topeka High's new girls basketball coach, replacing Shanna Perine, who accepted a position at Wabaunsee. Alysson Bodenbach has been named High's girls track and field coach.